


Bladed Shield

by Seeking_Solace



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 11:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17263793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seeking_Solace/pseuds/Seeking_Solace
Summary: A what-if scenario where Lora ends up with an entirely different Blade than Jin. Canon-divergant oneshot (though I do have some ideas for followup vignettes).





	Bladed Shield

**Author's Note:**

> This is all @lafolliadamore from Twitter's "fault" cause her beautiful WHAT IF Tweet got me doing a think. Mega credits to (Al)rest for the Wicked Discord members for giving me courage to share this!

Fear does strange things to the mind and body. Caught in the midst between fight or flight, we sometimes freeze - unable to move, unable to think, a silent tableau of horror.

Gort’s rage held Lora paralyzed, the backhand he dealt her left her stunned and dazed on the ground, the words he shouted turned into a slurred roar, and everything seemed to slow down. The funny shaped glimmering stone she had reached for was shining in her hands, pulsing along with the throbbing of terror in her throat, blinding her with the radiance only she seemed to see. Gort must have hit Mother again; Lora could hear her higher pitched voice and knew the pleading tone even if she couldn’t understand the words. 

Severed from her senses by the pain and fear, all she could think about was how she wished she was strong enough to protect Mother, to fight off Gort, to be something besides a crying child slumped in a corner, and what kind of a father would beat his wife and hurt his child? Shouldn’t a father protect the ones he loved? The strange crystal throbbed in her hands as Gort grabbed his sword and raised the blade with a psychotic smile on his face, mania in his eyes, and Lora prayed that maybe if she ever got a second chance at life, she’d have a father that loved her. 

She screamed as the blade rose in her father’s hands, raised her arms as if she could somehow deflect his sword, and closed her eyes - nothing more than a terrified child unable to escape their fate. 

The blow never came. An explosion of light and shadow caused Lora’s eyes to snap open just in time for a spray of blood to splatter across her cheek and the wall behind her. Lora’s ears stopped ringing just enough to hear Gort’s howl of agony as he clutched at the stump of his shoulder where his arm should have been. A massive figure stepped from the bizarre play of light and shadow and kicked Gort hard in the chest, sending him to the ground, then pinned his throat with a foot, crushing the air out of him. 

“Disgusting,” the huge man said, silver eyes ablaze with fury. “I don’t know what kind of sick bastard wants to kill a child… and I don’t care.” He hefted his sword in one hand, Gort’s blood dripping down it, and paused with it poised in the air. He turned to face the cowering little girl, his expression softening, and removed his foot from Gort’s neck long enough to move between the fallen man and weeping child, shielding Lora from view. “Don’t look,” the man instructed, voice gentle but commanding. “Close your eyes, and don’t open them, no matter what you hear.” 

Lora did as he said. She screwed her eyes shut, jammed her fingers in her ears, and did her best to ignore the sound of swift death through her sobs.

What seemed like an eternity later, someone touched her shoulder, then her fingers. Lora opened her eyes. The huge gray-eyed man was crouching down in front of her, and he held out a hand to Lora. 

“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “That-” he stopped for a moment, and part of Lora’s mind thought he was censoring himself, “-man. Won’t hurt you ever again. He won’t hurt anyone ever again.” The same hand that had held the massive sword delicately took Lora’s and squeezed it. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Lora,” she whimpered, wiping tears and snot from her face and scrubbing at her eyes.

“Lora. I’m Malos. I’m your Blade now. Do you understand what that means?” Malos carefully helped Lora to her feet, but stayed crouched down so he was eye to eye with her. Lora shook her head no. “It means no one will hurt you again, because I’ll protect you. Always.”


End file.
